What Should Be Said
by Wandergirl108
Summary: Richelle Mead's characters are intelligent, strong, capable, interesting, and flawed - I haven't been so taken by characters in books in a very long time. However, sometimes they don't handle situations too well, and I find myself putting words in their mouths often. I've decided to put all instances of this into one compilation. Individual summaries are provided per ficlet.
1. Telling Her Majesty Off

**This is what my response to the lecture Queen Tatiana gave Rose in book 3 would have been, had I been Rose. Basically, it's a really long, eloquent, elaborate, polite, LONG way of saying "You're being stupid, get a life you old hag." I guess it's a good thing I'm not Rose, huh?**

* * *

With all due respect, Your Majesty, I'm surprised you'd pay any attention to idle gossip. Surely it's beneath you? In telling me to break off with your great-nephew, you sound rather like a girl my age who heard rumors about her little sister and the off-limits bad boy in the senior class, confronting said little sister about it without even asking if it's true. I am fully aware of the fact that your great-nephew only wants me for sex, which is why I have not returned his affections and have no intention of doing so. As for talk of "men and drinking", I am a high-school student - I have dated boys and enjoyed alcoholic beverages at parties like any other girl my age. Furthermore, for the record, I am a virgin. If you don't believe me, you're more than welcome to have some royal doctor _look_ _into_ the matter; I assure you, the proof is there.

Regarding Christian Ozera, I myself shared your distaste and distrust for him initially, and even worked to keep him and Vasilisa apart. Having gotten to know him since then, while I don't love him, I _do_ trust him with the princess. He is not inclined to turn Strigoi - he hates them, as, in a way, they took his parents from him. He was part of the group with me in Spokane who fought two Strigoi…perhaps you didn't hear this detail, but the Strigoi who captured us told us that whichever of the two Moroi with us - Christian Ozera or Mia Rinaldi - would be first to kill one of us dhampir and become Strigoi themselves would be allowed to live; the other four would not. Even after two days of starvation, however, Mr. Ozera refused to turn Strigoi. In the end, as part of a ploy, he actually had his fangs against my neck, and could easily have fed from me and killed me, but instead chose to free me from my bonds so we could escape. I know of no Moroi who is _less_ inclined to turn Strigoi than Christian, and the only one I can think of who is equally likely is Mia Rinaldi, whose mother was killed in one of the recent Strigoi attacks - as I'm sure you're fully aware, Your Majesty.

Furthermore, Christian and Vasilisa are in love. They make each other very happy, I've seen it day in and day out. Being bound to Lissa as shadow-kissed Anna was to Saint Vladimir, I can attest that the bond they have is strong and true, and far from something that can be reasoned out of existence or dispersed by the disapproval of others - whether that disapproval is just or unjust. If I may be so bold as to confess something to Your Majesty that I've never admitted to anyone else, I envy their relationship, for the love they share and the joy they bring each other. Besides, surely Your Majesty, being far older and wiser and more experienced in such matters than myself, knows full well that love does not listen to reason? One cannot be forced to love someone. I was once loved by a cherished friend, and I tried to make myself love him - we were compatible in every way, and the most reasonable thing was for us to date; but I could not. A person cannot force _themselves_ to love someone; for others to try to force love on someone is simply impossible. If you want Lissa to be with your great-nephew, you would have to force the marriage - and surely, Your Majesty would not force _Princess_ _Vasilisa_ _Dragomir_, the last of the Dragomir line, into a marriage to which she does not consent?

To be fully honest with you, Your Majesty - and I truly say this with _all_ due respect - everything you have said to me during this entire conversation has quite frankly been ludicrous. Rather than waste time listening to gossip or micromanaging Lissa's love life, you ought to focus your time and energy on governing the Moroi population worldwide.


	2. The Riddle

**The answer Lissa gave for the third trial was a nice sentiment, but it was silly. Here's MY answer. I know this is short and barely a fic, but it's what I would have said in her place; and honestly, it makes a lot more sense, and shows a lot more consciousness of what ruling means. You can give everything to your people and they may still not accept your rule, after all.**

* * *

There is nothing in the material world that makes a queen - not even the land in which her people live - so there's no need to acknowledge that angle further. As for the immaterial world, qualities of character tend to come to most minds: Wisdom, strength, courage, honesty, integrity, tolerance, patience, kindness, intelligence, honor…but these are not what a queen needs to rule her people. Perhaps, if she possesses them, they will help her attempt to do what is BEST for her people, but that is not the question. In order for a queen to LEAD her people, at ALL, in ANY direction, be it just or unjust, she must have their support, their faith. A person cannot be a leader if no one will follow her, no matter her title. Indeed, it is the people who give the title meaning. In short, what a queen needs in order to lead her people is the people themselves.


	3. Forgiveness

**Keith wants Carly's forgiveness for what he did to her, and she refuses. She has every right to, but if he wants any chance at possibly changing her mind, a message like this would probably be his best bet.**

**To be clear, I don't think Carly SHOULD forgive Keith - what he did to her was horrible and unforgivable, and I admire her for the strength she managed to find to push past it. I just feel that, if nothing else, she at least has the right to know that Keith managed to scrape together enough decency to at least recognize the way he felt in re-education as comparable to the way she felt when he raped her, and be sorry for it, rather than continue to go on about it not having been her fault.**

* * *

To: carlysage _at_ randomemailaddress . com

From: keithdarnell _at_ alchemistemail . com

Subject: Please let me explain

Dear Carly,

I've apologized repeatedly and begged for your forgiveness; you've refused, but please, at least let me explain why I'm sorry.

What I did to you that night…I didn't care about you. You cried and begged and I ignored you. I told you it was your fault, that I couldn't help myself. At the time, I didn't understand what I was doing…I didn't care.

But when I went to re-education, I learned what I'd done. Carly, you can't imagine the things they do to people in there - I can't tell you exactly, but they torture us, at every chance they get, horribly, mentally and physically…and as they do it, they say they're helping us, that we're corrupted and need to learn purity. I felt so utterly powerless, helpless, beaten up, and ashamed. And that's when I realized that's what I did to you that night. No one should have to feel that way, and knowing I did it to you makes me sick.

My life is over; the only question is whether it will be in and out of re-education, or in normal human prison. I know it's hypocritical of me to ask your forgiveness now, and ask that you turn me in to the police - I know I'm basically asking you to show me the mercy I was too cruel and arrogant to show you. But you have my life in your hands now. I can only beg.

I told your friends what I could. I hope they get Sydney out of that place - no one should be in there, not even a vamp lover like her.

I'm sorry. I truly am. Please forgive me.

Sincerely,

Keith


	4. Last Chance For Safety

**Sometimes, if someone won't take "no" for an answer, they need to be told the whole truth - or MOST of the truth - about why. This is what Sydney should have gone and said to Lia as soon as she found out about Jill's picture being in that magazine - yes, it's revealing a risky truth, but she can't make things much worse at that point, can she? Maybe she might even listen…**

* * *

Lia, I need to talk to you about Jill and this picture of her you published, right now, in private. May I?

…

Alright, listen…We've been lying to you. The reason we can't have Jill be photographed isn't because of any religion. Here's the truth: Jill is in Witness Protection, and no one can know she's here. If she's found, she'll be killed - people have already tried, and one even managed to stab her; we were very lucky he was taken away before he could be sure he'd succeeded, and that we had people on hand who were able to save her. Us members of her extended "family" aren't family, we're agents - we were the youngest that could be found for the job, so we can stay close to her and keep her safe.

That's why we can't have her picture anywhere, and why we tried to buy you off with a lie - the fewer people know the truth, the safer she is. Telling _anyone_ puts her life at risk - do you understand me? Do not tell _anyone_ about this, not even the person you trust most in the entire world - all it takes is for that one person to tell one other person, and for that person to tell one other person, and eventually it _will_ get back to people who will try to kill her.

I'm sorry, I really am. Jill wants to model for you, and she loves it - and honestly, I wish she could too. Maybe, once the trial she's needed for is over and she's safe, she'll be able to work for you. For now, you need to _back_ _off_, and _pray_ that this stunt you pulled with the magazine doesn't get your up-and-coming supermodel _killed_.


	5. Discretion

**Maybe this wouldn't have saved her from purging, but I was surprised Sydney was dumb enough to call humans monsters in re-education. Even if she couldn't have said nothing at all, she could have responded to the "teacher"'s cross-examination with something like this…**

* * *

I asked where your proof was, sir. Your points are compelling and perfectly reasonable, and I'm certainly not arguing against them - I was just asking for hard facts, is all. Concrete things - numbers, statistics, that sort of thing. Those are what Alchemists deal in, after all; I'm sure you have plenty. I was just asking to see them.


	6. Reason

**I'm not sure why Sydney thought just convincing the Warriors of Light that Sonya was Moroi would be enough to save her, considering that even the Alchemists think Moroi are monsters, too. It probably would have been a good idea to say something like this somewhere in her speech - you know, something that proves why the Alchemists are actually invested in keeping Sonya alive.**

* * *

Wait! Please, wait…Sonya isn't just Moroi, she's a vital part of a project we're currently working on with the Moroi to prevent the creation of Strigoi in the first place. We have evidence to indicate that anyone brought back from being Strigoi can never be turned into Strigoi again no matter what - and Sonya Karp, being not only a Moroi to have changed back from being Strigoi, but also being one of the rare users of the type of magic capable of changing people back, is the head of our research team on the matter. Please, we _need_ her, she's a vital part of what could be the biggest breakthrough in our history on protecting the world from vampires. The Alchemists need her _alive_.


	7. Sister Talk

**Lies don't fix things, especially when there are too many of them. Sometimes they're needed, but Sydney's overuse of Ms. Terwilliger as an excuse to get out of being with Zoe was ridiculous, especially the last one where she used it as an excuse to go Strigoi hunting. She shouldn't have left Zoe on the note she did - she shouldn't have gotten into that position in the first place, but even if she had to, she could have ended it with something less damning. Would it have helped? Maybe, maybe not. But there's no denying that what she did say made things worse.** **She should have grabbed Zoe's arm as she was leaving and said this. It might have even helped her case on the divorce matter.**

**You know, I'm doing a lot of these about Sydney…for someone so freakishly intelligent, she fumbles words a lot. But maybe that's the point - compensating for her extreme intelligence with an extreme difficulty saying things right.**

* * *

Zoe, wait, I lied!…No, not about what I'll say at the trial, about where I'm going right now. I was telling the truth before, my project with Ms. Terwilliger is done, and I don't need to go to some library to pick something up. What I'm doing is actually Alchemist business. It's top secret, I can't tell you what it is, but…well, remember when I went to the Moroi Royal Court a little while ago? What I'm doing now involves what I did there.

I'm sorry I lied to you. I used Ms. Terwilliger as an excuse mainly because you couldn't argue against it, but I should have told you the truth. I guess…I'm just so used to hiding Alchemist business from people, lying about this was a reflex. My gut isn't always right about when to be an Alchemist with you and when to be a sister…I should have been your sister about this, too. I'm sorry. Please, I really do want to go do something with you, but this is important to our mission - if you become a full Alchemist, you'll probably have to make choices about lying to me in the future, too. I'll make it up to you another time, I promise.


End file.
